My eunuch godfather

Chapter 6 River Works Battalion

Under the guidance of Zhang Ye and Xu Bengao, the Dajun Nine Gates City Moat project was successfully approved.

Xu Bengao was appointed "Supervisor of the canals and moats of the nine gates of the capital, including Zhengyang," and was in charge of the river works battalion.

Chen Jizong was promoted to the rank of Vice Commander of the Imperial Guard, a third-rank official, and served as the camp commander of the River Works Battalion.

Zhang Kun's official rank was promoted to centurion, a sixth-rank official, and he also served as the supervisor of the river works camp.

The river work battalion was to have a capacity of 5000 men, with expenses covered by the Chongwenmen Propaganda Department.

The first phase of the construction of the nine gates of Dajun City Moat cost 5 taels of silver, which was actually advanced by the Jinyiwei Street Office and the Tongwan Tax Supervisor.

Because the silver stored in the Xuanke Department had already been plundered by the Wanli Emperor and put into the imperial treasury.

"Nephew, your use of Chongwen Gate as a topic of conversation is truly a stroke of genius!"

At the opening banquet of the river works camp, Xu Bengao got completely drunk and actually put his arm around Zhang Kun's neck, praising him:

"His Majesty is currently arguing with the Ministry of Revenue over the wedding expenses for the two princes!"

We handed this knife to the Emperor, and it routed the Ministry of Revenue, forcing them to surrender the silver from Chongwen Gate!

"You flatter me, Grand Commander. I only possess some petty cleverness..."

Two years ago, the fifth son of Emperor Wanli, Prince Rui, got married, and the wedding expenses amounted to 19 taels of silver.

Now that the sixth son, Prince Hui, and the seventh son, Prince Gui, are both preparing for their weddings, the Ministry of Revenue says it cannot afford it and requests Emperor Wanli to allocate funds from the imperial treasury.

The greedy Wanli Emperor, of course, refused and, under the pretext of dredging the moat around the nine city gates, forcibly subdued the Ministry of Revenue.

"I have read Supervisor Zhang's report on the river works."

Xu Bengao's brother-in-law, who had been assigned to the river works camp as the foreman, raised his wine cup and praised Zhang Kun:

"By dividing the work into different departments, we can get things done with just 30,000 to 40,000 taels of silver. It's truly a brilliant idea!"

"From now on, as we work together, I will have to consult with Supervisor Zhang a lot regarding craftsmanship!"

"I wouldn't dare; I only possess some petty cleverness."

Zhang Kun quickly stood up, lowered his wine glass, clinked it against Xu Bengao's brother-in-law's, and said respectfully:

"You have been in charge of military craftsmen in the Southern Garrison for many years. For me to presume to comment on craftsmanship would be like showing off my limited skills before an expert."

No matter how skilled you are, the craftsmen are still the other party's people. Who will listen to your orders?

Moreover, before his time travel, Zhang Kun had only worked on construction sites for a few months, and he had forgotten most of his civil engineering knowledge from school.

"Sixty-six, I have prepared all the money, provisions, and ships."

A well-off-looking middle-aged man standing nearby spoke up with a smile:

"Once you and Commander Chen go to the disaster-stricken areas in the south and recruit enough men, we can start work!"

Zhang Kun lowered his glass and clinked it against the other person's. "Thank you, Brother Thirty-Five!"

The middle-aged man was also Zhang Ye's adopted son, the thirty-fifth in line, and had previously served as the ambassador of the Zhengyangmen Propaganda Department.

Now, he has been demoted in name only but promoted in reality, serving as the Deputy Commissioner of the Chongwen Gate Propaganda Department and concurrently as the Grain Manager of the River Works Camp.

Chen Jizong, who was mentioned, also raised his glass and clinked glasses with Zhang Kun's cheap 35th brother.

Sitting next to Chen Jizong was a somewhat reserved young man, Chen Jizong's younger brother, Chen Jishi.

He did not yet hold an official position, but he had already been assigned the post of a sentry officer in the river engineering camp.

There were several tables outside, for minor officials such as clerks, craftsmen, and scribes who were not entitled to sit at the tables.

Almost all of them were brought in through Zhang Ye or Xu Bengao's connections.

The river work camp hasn't recruited a single river worker, nor has it done any engineering work, yet it already has to support more than fifty officials.

In addition to his salary, which was not considered a regular source of corruption, he still managed to spend at least 5000 taels of silver a year.

With so many shady characters, this project is going to be difficult to manage...

The following morning.

Chen Jizong and Zhang Kun found a soup shop and drank soup to sober up.

Pour the cooked beef bone broth into a pot, and first add powdered dried ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, fennel seeds, star anise, etc.

Add sliced ​​beef and gluten, shredded shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, winter bamboo shoots and daylily buds, fine salt and light soy sauce.

After simmering in salt, thicken with gluten water, and drizzle with sesame oil and aged vinegar before serving for a rich aroma.

"Phew~"

After finishing the spicy soup, Chen Jizong exhaled a long breath of hot air and apologized to Zhang Kun, who was sitting next to him:

"Brother, I'm sorry, the new commander insists on taking the lion's share of the night market and will only give you a third."

"It's just a small amount, Brother Chen, don't worry about it."

Zhang Kun had anticipated this and dismissed Chen Jizong's remarks, saying:

"If we do a good job with the river works camp, we can earn several thousand taels of silver!"

"My brother has great ambition; he's destined for great things!"

Chen Jizong gave Zhang Kun a thumbs-up and solemnly assured him:

"Brother doesn't know anything about water conservancy. From now on, when I work in the river engineering camp, I'll leave everything to you, my dear brother!"

Zhang Kun devised a plan and acted as a go-between between his eunuch godfather and Xu Bengao, thus facilitating such a large project.

Especially considering the high regard Xu Bengao showed last night, it was as if he wanted to adopt Zhang Kun as his godson.

This ensured that Chen Jizong's respect for Zhang Kun was not solely due to Zhang Kun's status as a eunuch godfather.

"By the way, my dear brother, the imperial court has allocated two hundred men to our river works battalion."

Chen Jizong, feigning a sudden thought, suggested to Zhang Kun:

"I have dozens of men at home, all of them are good men, some of whom have even killed Tartars in border towns."

"The Imperial Guards also have many skilled and strong soldiers who have left their posts. Could we let them receive pay from the river works camp?"

"Excellent!"

Compared to Zhang Ye and Xu Bengao, Zhang Kun welcomed Chen Jizong's deployment of men to the river engineering camp and readily agreed:

"I will go to see my godfather and the Grand Commander tomorrow to help Brother Chen persuade him to make this happen."

Even if it's not allowed, we can still recruit people first and then pay them extra wages later.

But I must remind Brother Chen, these people are the foundation of our position in the river engineering camp; we mustn't send in any scoundrels or inferior individuals."

"Of course, my dear brother, don't worry!"

......

"Old Deng, I'll be busy with the river work camp from now on. You'll be in charge of this lucrative section for me."

Zhang Kun summoned Deng Wenqi, the head of the Feiduan section in Xuanbeifang, and instructed him:

"You told me about usury before, saying that lowering interest rates would break the rules of this industry, and other firms would come looking for you."

I have an idea: instead of lowering the interest rate on loans, we'll offer a significantly lower rate to anyone who borrows money from us at exorbitant interest rates.

Once the river works camp clears away the years' worth of silt, fertilizer prices will definitely drop. This way, we can recoup some of the losses through interest!

"Wonderful! Wonderful!"

After hearing Zhang Kun's idea, Deng Wenqi couldn't help but praise him twice, expressing his admiration:

"No wonder you were promoted to centurion so soon after becoming a captain. Even the characters in the stories aren't as clever as you!"

"Give more to the smaller households; I need it to acquire land. Remember, don't use any underhanded tactics; doing so will only cause me trouble."

Zhang Kun continued to instruct Deng Wenqi that the land acquisition was to prepare for the planting of tampongolica.

Actually, the capital and its surrounding areas are not very suitable for growing danbagu, but the cost of transporting it from the south is too high.

After arranging the fat section, Zhang Kun returned to Liuxiang'er's courtyard.

An extra set of armor appeared in the courtyard: a dark armor made of blue silk with gold-plated studs, and a six-petaled bright iron helmet with gold-plated guardian tops and fragrant grass-embroidered seams.

Xu Xin, the attendant—now Xu Xin, the ceremonial attendant; a sixth-rank official can have four attendants—explained:

"Master Kun, this was delivered to our door by someone sent by Grand Commander Xu."

Dark armor, also known as cloth armor, has plates on the inside that are fixed to cotton cloth with rivets. The cotton cloth is made up of multiple layers of cotton pieces.

Compared to traditional open armor such as lamellar armor, it was more suitable for defending against early firearms and was also simpler to wear.

The downsides are that they are difficult to inspect, easy to falsify in terms of nail plates, and too hot to wear in summer and in the south.

Of course, this one definitely has all the armor plates intact:

Thirty-four leaves for the collar, nineteen for the heart, twenty-two for the armpits, two hundred and twenty-eight for the body, and one hundred and thirty-two for the limbs.

With the iron helmet and the two iron armbands from shoulder to hand, the total weight reached 38 jin and 12 liang.

"Tomorrow, go to the Southern Garrison Command and find two military craftsmen to adjust my armor."

After putting it on and walking around a few times, Zhang Kun felt that it fit him about 70-80% of the way, and then gave instructions to Xu Xin.

For example, the chest protector is not aligned with the junction of the chest and abdomen, thus failing to protect the celiac plexus in that area.

For example, if the Iron Arm Binding is not long enough to protect the back of the hand, an additional section needs to be added.

As dusk fell, Zhang Kun took off his armor and had Xu Xin put it away before returning to the main room for dinner.

The maid Chen Jizong sent over was quite skilled, with cooking abilities comparable to those of a typical restaurant's top chef.

Braised chicken with chestnuts, stir-fried cabbage and pork slices with vinegar, scrambled eggs with chives, and tofu soup with seaweed, served with steamed buns.

"My lord, this is deer antler wine that my sister brought."

Ning Xuan'er held up a celadon wine bottle and said softly to Zhang Kun, "Would you like to try a cup?"

"I don't drink at home, so please return the alcohol."

Zhang Kun waved his hand in refusal, saying that eating deer meat was more effective than eating deer antler, and smiled at Ning Xuan'er:

"Have your sister send some goji berries. Don't soak them in alcohol; soaking them in water is the best way to drink them."

Goji berries are rich in flavonoids and carotenoids, and their antioxidant capacity is higher than that of blueberries and purple sweet potatoes.

This is the wisdom of our ancestors that is worth passing on.

Ning Xuan'er was taken aback for a moment, then quickly agreed.

Over the past few days, Ning Xuan'er has had a very good impression of Zhang Kun:

Despite holding an official position, he didn't put on airs at home and treated Ning Xuan'er and the maids with great kindness.

He was young, tall, and practiced boxing and fitness every day, so he had no excess fat and was quite handsome.

The question is, why doesn't he touch me? Is there some unspeakable reason, or...?

"Have the maids tidy up."

Zhang Kun, unaware that Ning Xuan'er was lost in thought, instructed her:

"I'm taking Xu Xin on a business trip to Shandong for about two months. You and the girls will have to stay somewhere else temporarily."